Category: Swan Lore

Swans in Literature

Swans in Literature

by Justin Durand

The Ugly DuckingThe Ugly Duckling

The story of The Ugly Duckling is perhaps the best known story involving swans. It was written by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen in 1843 under the title Den grimme ælling. In short, a duckling hatches. His brothers and sisters are normal, but he is ugly and clumsy. He suffers harassment and is eventually driven away. He wanders alone. Miraculously, he survives the winter. He comes to a pond, where he sees swans swimming. Drawn by their beauty, he approaches them, expecting to be driven off. Instead, they welcome him. He joins them and, seeing his reflection in the water, finds out that he is a swan too.

The Wild Swans

Hans Christian Andersen also wrote The Wild Swans, published as De vilde svanerin 1838. A king has 12 children, 11 sons and one daughter. He is a widower, and decides to remarry. The woman he married is a witch, who turns her step-sons in swans. They carry away their sister Elisa, where she is out of the way of their wicked step-mother. Elisa works day and night, knitting nettles into magic shirts. The king finds her, and marries her. She continues her knitting, but is mute and cannot explain to the King what she is doing or why. One night she runs out of nettles, and gathers more in a graveyard. An evil Archbishop sees her and accuses her of witchcraft. The King sentences Elisa to be burned as a witch. At the last moment, her swan brothers descend from the sky and rescue her. They put on the magic shirts and are restored to human form. Elisa regains her voice and explains her actions. The charge against her is dismissed, and she is reunited with her brothers.

The story is based on the Irish story of the The Seven Swan Brothers and the German fairy tale The Six Swans. In the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales, there are dozens of European stories in which a woman saves or is saved by her brothers, who have been turned into various types of birds (type 451).

Swan Lore

Swan Lore

by Justin Durand

“The Silver Swan who, living, had no note,
When death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
Thus sung her first and last,
And sung no more:
Farewell all joys, O death come close mine eyes.
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.”

— Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), The Silver Swan

Swan Rush
Swan, Rush & Iris’ (1875) by Walter Crane

From Ireland to Siberia, it was taboo to kill a swan. To do so would cause misfortune and death.

Chivalric Lore

Chivalric Lore

by Justin Durand

In the culture of European chivalry, the swan is the king of water birds, as the eagle is the king of all birds. The swan was said to be the only bird the eagle thought it worthwhile to fight. In medieval times swans were a delicacy. They were kept in a swannery, and when they were brought to the table for feasts it was customary to swear oaths on them.

Lohengrin – The Swan Knight

The story of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight, is very ancient. The legend is related about many places and noble families in Germany. The hero of the legend has been variously named as Lohengrin, Loherangrin, Elias Grail, Gererard Swan, Gerhard, Helias, and Salvius Brabo, while the heroine has been both Else of Brabant and Beatrice of Clèves, a princess of Hohenschwangau.

Norse Roots

The legend has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon, Danish and Longobard legend of Sceaf. An Anglo-Saxon version says: “A ship once arrived on the coast of Scandia without rudder or sail. In it lay a boy asleep upon his arms. The natives took and educated him, calling him Scild, the son of Sceaf (the skiff). In course of time he became their king.”

The English epic poem Beowulf adds that Scild reigned long, and when he saw that he was about to die, he bade his men lay him, fully armed, in a boat, and commit him to the sea. Some legends say the boat that bore him away was drawn by swans.

Grail Legend

Lohengrin, the Swan Knight, was an early figure in the Grail Legend. He was son of Perceval. Perceval most often is said to have been son of King Pellinore and his wife Eglise, who was sister of King Pelles. Because King Pelles was the father of Elaine, who married Sir Lancelot, Elaine and Perceval were first cousins, and their sons Galahad and Lohengrin were second cousins. Note, however, that Wolfram von Eschbach’s “Parzival,” says Perceval was son of Gahmuret and Herzeylde, the sister of the Fisher King. The Fisher King was Anfortas, son of Frimutel, son of Titurel.

There were once many versions of his story, but they have been reduced to two — one handed down as part of the Arthurian cycle, and one created anew by the composer Richard Wagner. The common elements of the original story told how he happened on weapons as a youth despite the efforts of his mother and sisters, how he became a knight despite his foolishness, how he nearly became King of Hjalma, how he chanced to kill a swan, and how he found the Holy Grail.

The Arthurian Lohengrin

Lohengrin was born in Hjalma, the third son of a small nobleman who, with his two elder sons, died in a local war. Lohengrin was raised by his mother and sisters in the company of women alone. They wanted to keep him away from weapons and fighting so he would not be slain like his father and brothers. Nevertheless, he was the son of a knight and could not be deterred. After many adventures, he became a knight and found the Holy Grail.

Succeeding his uncle, he became King of the Grail Castle, called Montsalvache (Mount of Salvation). By the blessing of the Holy Grail, he has been alive for over 1,000 years and is a man of great personal power. He seldom leaves the castle, but lives there with other Knights of the Grail, spending most of his time in solitude. He is chaste, save when duty requires him to be otherwise. His mission is to go out into the world and do good deeds. However, if anyone asks his name and origin, his power fades and he must return to the Grail Castle.

He is said to have founded the Order of the Knights of the Swan, which he leads and whose rule he established. He is not only the Knight of the Swan, but also the Knight of the Law. Montsalvache is the famed Law Keep. Although a perfect and gentle knight, he is said to be capable of acts of unspeakable violence in apparent cold blood.

Some hint that he is fanatic like the knights he trains, and that the blessing of the Holy Grail has touched him with madness. Others suggest that he is a subtle schemer, seeking personal power under the pretense of the Law of the Grail.

Another Version of the Arthurian Lohengrin

In the dark ages, there lived in the castle of Schwanstein (now Hohenschwangau) a princess of the purest and noblest character, mistress of the castle and the valley. One day she stood upon the parapet of the Schloss and looked far into the valley. Her eye rested upon the Swan Lake. There she saw a snow-white swan, gracefully sailing over the waters, and drawing after it a golden boat in which a handsome knight lay asleep.

When the knight awoke and stepped on shore, he greeted the princess in such friendly wise that she immediately conceived great confidence in him, and asked him to protect her against her enemies, especially against her wicked uncle, who had accused her before the Emperor of unbecoming conduct, and on this ground had claimed her wealth. The Emperor commanded that the uncle should do battle with any champion the young lady could procure. The day of the tournament arrived, and the Swan knight appeared in the arena to uphold the cause of the lady, and slew the avaricious uncle on the spot. In great thankfulness the princess chose the knight to be her lord, and he accepted the honor on one condition, namely, that she should never seek to find out who he was or whence he came, otherwise their bliss would at once come to an end. But curiosity was ever the weak point of the daughters of Eve. Irresistibly inquisitive to know something about her knight, she asked him about his descent. Immediately on hearing these words he became silent and moody, and without more ado hurried to the lake. The swan was in waiting with the golden boat; the knight stepped into the fragile shell, and while the princess stood wringing her hands in agony on the turret, her mysterious lord was swept over the sad waters, out of sight forever.

Yet Another Version of the Arthurian Lohengrin

One chronicler says: “Otto, Emperor of Germany, held court at Neumagen, there to decide between Clarrissa, Duchess of Bouillon, and the Count of Frankfort, who claimed her duchy. It was decided that their right should be established by single combat, provided some doughty warrior would do battle for the lady. But none would meddle with the affair. In answer to her prayer, however, the Swan Knight appeared. Lords and ladies were scattered along the banks of the Meuse. The knight is Helias, who overcomes the Count of Frankfort, and becomes the Duke of Bouillon.”

Wagner’s Lohengrin

In the reign of the Emperor Heinrich, the duchy of Brabant was torn by civil war. The Emperor called on the Count of Telramund to explain the strife. The Count revealed that the heir to the duchy, Gottfried, had disappeared. The Count then accused Gottfried’s ward Elsa of murdering him.

The Emperor summoned Elsa to defend herself. She declared her innocence and told the Emperor that she had dreamt about a knight in shining armor who would come to champion her cause. The Emperor’s heralds called for her champion, but none appeared. At the second call, still no champion appeared. At the third call, Elsa’s prayers are answered. A knight appeared in the mist, in a boat drawn by a swan. The mysterious knight pledged himself to Elsa on the condition that she never ask his name. Elsa agreed. The knight defeated the Count, and spared the Count’s life. Elsa’s innocence was thus established, and she married the knight.

Elsa and her knight were happy together and raised two sons. But, the Count’s wife planted doubts in Elsa’s mind about the swan knight. One day, Elsa asked the knight for his true identity. The knight confessed that he is Lohengrin, the son of Parsifal, the Grail Knight. Because Elsa has broken her promise, Lohengrin was forced to leave her and return to the Grail Castle. However, he left his ring, his sword, and his horn as heirlooms for his descendants. When the swan and boat returned to take him back, the swan turned into Gottfried, the true heir of the duchy. And, as Lohengrin departed, Elsa fell dead, calling out for him.

Background of the Opera

Wagner’s opera Lohengrin was the work which first made the young and enthusiastic King of Bavaria a warm and devoted admirer of the so-called Music of the Future. Of this remarkable friendship Wagner himself wrote: “In the year of the first performance of Tannhäuser, a Queen bore me the good genius of my life, who raised me from the direct necessity to the highest joy. When but fifteen years of age, he witnessed a performance of Lohengrin, and since then he has belonged to me. He calls me his teacher, the dearest for him on earth. He was sent to me from Heaven. Through him I am, and understand myself.”

That young poet-minded king would stand on the balcony of his favorite residence, the mountain castle Hohenschwangau, and gaze at the clear moonlit lake below him while a courtier sang the Swan Song; and it is the same Hohenschwangau that is one of the legendary homes of the Swan Knight — an alpine paradise, and almost as inaccessible as the fabled Monsalvat.

The swan is the legendary bird of the Schwangau, and flocks of them may be seen sailing in all the pride of their beauty and dignity of the deep blue lake that lies at the foot of the hill on which Hohenschwangau is perched. The beautiful birds undoubtedly gave the name to the valley and the castle; and in course of time the swan-legend was transplanted from the Scheldt to Bavaria.

The first performance of Lohengrin was given under the direction of Franz Liszt at Weimar on 28 August 1850, the anniversary of Goethe’s death.

Historical Notes

The white swan was the badge of the Counts of Clèves, who claimed descent from the Knight of the Swan, and who founded an Order of the Swan. When Anne of Clèves went to England a play was given in her honor in which the appearance of a knight drawn in a boat by a swan caused great astonishment. The White Swan is a common sign for English public houses, originally adopted as a compliment to Anne of Clèves. Lord Berners wrote a novel in the 16th century called “The Knight of the Swan.”

The German word Kleve means “cliff.” The location is not a cliff as someone from the western US would use the word, but the castle, Die Schwanenburg, sits upon a somewhat higher ground than the surrounding area. The town of Kleve is farther from the Rhine than it was in the Middle Ages, before the river changed its course.

The name Schwanenburg dates from the 19th century, having previously been called by its Dutch name, het Slot van Cleef (Castle of Cleves). Its smaller tower has been known as Schwanenturm since the Middle Ages. There is a cast swan atop the castle’s tower. According to local legend, the story of Lohengrin took place at this castle. Wagner places the story in Brabant. The noble families of Clèves and Brabant were joined by marriage, so perhaps the true location is moot. At Kleve, there is a comic sculpture in town of a swan pulling Lohengrin by the britches. Swans and the Swan Knight appear occasionally in the names of local businesses, and naturally, there are real swans in the Spoy Kanal.

Swan Badge

The swan badge was one of the famous badges in medieval England. badge seems to have originated with Henry of Essex, a 12th century nobleman who used the badge as a pun on the name of his grandfather Sweyn of Essex. In 1210 Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, inherited the badge from Henry’s descendants. In 1227 the Mandevilles became extinct, and the badge was inherited by Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. The badge continued in the Bohun family until the heiress, Alianore de Bohun, brought it to the family of her husband, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, youngest son of King Edward III. Their daughter Anne, Countess of Buckingham inherited the badge and brought it to her husband Edmund Stafford, Earl of Stafford. The badge continued in the family of the Stafford Dukes of Buckingham until they became extinct in 1521.

The Bohuns might have claimed descent from Helyas, the legendary Knight of the Swan. Helyas was a son of King Oryant, who had seven children, each born with a silver chain round its neck. The children were all turned into white swans, with the exception of Helyas, who became the Knight of the Swan.

Swan Upping

Swan Upping

by Justin Durand
Swan Upping
Swan Upping
(Photo: Daily Mail, 2007)

In England, all mute swans on the Thames belong either to the Queen or to one of two London livery companies, the Vintners’ Company and the Dyers’ Company. Originally, all swans belonged to the the monarch, but a 15th century charter gave shares to the two livery companies.

In the third week of July, when the cygnets are in moult and cannot fly, they are rounded up in a public festival called Swan Upping. Swan Uppers row up the Thames, catching swans. Those owned by the livery companies are marked. Those owned by the Queen are left unmarked. Originally, swans were marked by notching their beaks. Now, Dyers’ Company swans are ringed on one leg, and Vintner’s Company swans are ringed on both legs. The older custom is commemorated in the pub name, The Swan with Two Necks, which is a corruption of The Swan with Two Nicks.

This event goes back to the Middle Ages, when swans were served as a delicacy at feasts and festivals. Some sources say that the tradition goes back to Richard the Lion-Hearted, who is said to have brought the first swans to England after the Third Crusade. Notwithstanding the legend, swans are documented in Britain from at least the Roman era.

Until 1993, the Keeper of the King’s Swans, an office dating to the 13th century, was a member of the Royal Household. He was supported by three swan herdsmen. The office was abolished in 1993 and replaced with two new offices in the Royal Household: the Warden of the Swans and the Marker of the Swans.

Norse Lore

Norse Lore

by Justin Durand

In Norse myth, swans were born out of Ginnungagap (”seeming emptiness”) when the fire of Múspellsheimr (”flame-land”) in the south met the cold of Niflheimr (”mist-land”) in the north. Fire and frost were the primary elements of Norse mythology. The frost drops melted and the water poured into the vast chasm of Ginnungagap, out of which the universe was born.

The Norse associated swans with the Valkyries, the swan maidens who transported men slain in battle to Óðinn’s Valhöll (Valhalla). Valkyries discard their plumage when they adopt human shape. Any man who can steal their plumage is able to command them.

White cirrus clouds were said to be swans flying around the chariot of the god Freyr.

According to tradition, a swan’s eggs will only hatch during a thunderstorm, and then only when lightning strikes the shell. If a swan stretches its head and neck over its wings, a thunderstorm is brewing. In Iceland, the music of a swan is said to presage a thaw.

For good luck, swans were used as figureheads on ships because swans do not plunge themselves beneath the waves.

Faroese Ballad

Fly along, o’er the verdant ground,
Glimmering swans to the ripping sound;

Icelandic Song

Sweetly swans are singing
In the summer time.
There a swan as silver white,
In the summer time,
Lay upon my bosom light.
Lily maiden,
Sweetly swans are singing!

The Nibelungenlied

Brunhild, who was won by Sigurd, and who died for him, is said to “move on her seat as a swan rocking on a wave;” and the three sea-maids from whom Hagne stole a dress, which is simply described as “wonderful” in the Nibelungenlied, are said to “swim as birds before him on the flood. In the Gudrun-Lied, an angel approaches like a swimming wild-bird.

Volund the Smith

The King of the Finns had three sons, Slagfid, Egil and Volund (the original of Wayland the Smith). They went on snow-shoes and hunted wild beasts. They came to Ulfdal, and there made themselves a house at a water called the Wolfiake. Early one morning they found, on the border of the lake, three maidens sitting and spinning flax. Near them lay their swan plumages:  they were Valkyries. Two of them, Hladgud (Swan-white) and Hervor (All-white), were daughters of King Hlodver; the third was Olrun, a daughter of Kiar of Valland. The brothers took these women home to their dwelling. Egil had Olrun, Slagfid had Hladgud, and Volund had Hervor. They lived there seven years, and then the women flew away seeking conflicts, and did not return. Egil then went on snow-shoes in search of Olrun, and Slagfld in search of Hladgud, but Volund remained in Wolfdale. (Edda of Soemund)

In the German story of Weiland this incident has disappeared; but the Wilkina Saga, a 14th century composition, says the hero wandered in search of his beloved Angelburga. By chance he arrived at a fountain, in which were bathing three maidens, with their dresses, consisting of doves’ feathers, lying at the side. Wieland, armed with a root that made him invisible, approached the bank and stole the clothes. The maidens, on discovering their loss, uttered cries of distress. Wieland appeared, and promised to return their bird-skins if one of them would consent to be his wife. They agreed to the terms, leaving the choice to Wieland, who selected Angelburga, whom he had long loved without having seen.

Kára and Helgi

A mortal hero fell in love with a Valkyrie and the two lovers repeated their doomed love over the course of three lifetimes. They were successively reborn as Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva, then as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrún, then as Helgi Hröngvið’s brother and Kára. She would hover in the air above Helgi and enchant his enemies with her song. In her third incarnation, a battle was being fought on the ice of Lake Vener, between two Swedish kings, supported by Kára’s lover Helgi, on one side, and King Olaf of Norway, supported by Hromund Greipssonduring, the betrothed of the king’s sister, on the other side. Kára floated above the battle in the form of a swan. By her incantations, she blunted the weapons of King Olaf’s men, so that they began to give way before the Swedes. But Helgi, in raising his sword, accidentally struck off the leg of the swan, mortally wounding his mistress. From that moment the tide of battle turned, and the Norwegians were victorious. (”Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar,” “Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and II,” and “Hrómundar saga Gripssonar”)